Cobirds:
A jaunt through Boulder, Larimer, and Weld county today for
mostly raptors and redpolls. This is a bit verbose, but interesting.
Counties noted where interesting sightings occur; W = Weld, L = Larimer,
and B = Boulder.
Numbers 1st:
Red tailed hawk - 21 - B, W, L
American kestrel - 14 - B, W, L
Ferruginous hawk - 4 - W
Rough-legged hawk - 1 - W
Bald eagle - 1 - L
Golden eagle - W
Northern harrier - 2 - W
Common redpoll - 2 - W - in prairie habitat in Central Plains Station area
Common redpoll - 16 - L - in Fort Collins at the Discovery Center (already
reported by many birders)
Western meadow lark - 54 - L, W - some were singing
Red winged blackbird - 12 - W, one was singing
Eurasian collared dove - hundreds, especially at farm houses on the
Larimer, Weld County line.
I observed a northern harrier (male) on the ground with a prey item that
looked like a prairie dog. Two ferruginous hawks were battling to steal
the prey, but surprisingly the harrier fought them both off. Then
proceeded to gorge itself on fresh prairie dog.
Another observation: 108 pronghorn herd on private land adjoining the rail
line and the main road, north of Nunn. They're not dumb - rifle hunters
were out today.
Lots of duck and goose hunters out in force in Loveland and Fort Collins
area - some blasting away really close to bike paths (perfectly legal) and
along river paths. Be careful out there. (last weekend we saw geese get
blasted close to Valmont Reservoir - hunters can shoot from private land
and then walk over to Open Space and pick up the carcasses.
And then the strangest one for today: a very creepy looking morph or
mixed-breed coyote about 5 miles due east of Nunn. I was stopped on the
road looking for birds, when I saw a strange animal running at full speed
across the road in front of me, along with a "normal" looking coyote, also
running at full speed. This is one of those instances where my brain
circuits blow a fuse. I will try to describe. Said animal looked
dog-like, with dappling black-and-brown that some domestic dog
breeds have. The head was that of a coyote, but nearly hairless. The body
was covered with short hair (like a short haired boxer), powerful, sleek,
and muscular. The tail was nealy hairless except for a thick tuft of hair
on the end - african lion like tail tip. When I saw this - my mind was
racing at milli-second speed to catigorise it as some species - North
America, African, Amazonian - my mouth dropped. It's one of those mind
bending moments that you can't get your thought process around. Finally,
minutes later, I figured it was some weird integrade species, domestic dog
- coyote cross thingamagigee. The fact that it was traveling with another
coyote, meant that it must have been part coyote. And further - this was
a really healthy looking animal - not mange or scabies looking. Fully
healthy, running, powerful looking, happily running across the prairie.
I've seen a lot of North American wildlife in my day, from Alaska to the
Tropics, but I ain't never seen anything as weird as this. You'd had to
have been there.
Now I can see how tales about the "chupacara" are propigated.
Happy birding. Sleep tight, and don't let the chupacaras bite. (hee
hee). - John T (Tumasonis), currently of Louisville CO and a member of
Boulder Audubon.
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